Blood of the Provinces

The Roman Auxila and the Making of Provincial Society from Augustus to the Severans

Ian Haynes

The first comprehensive study of the Roman auxilia

Brings new insights to the study of cultural transformation under the Roman Empire by drawing on the latest archaeological research

Fully illustrated throughout

Blood of the Provinces

The Roman Auxila and the Making of Provincial Society from Augustus to the Severans

Ian Haynes

Description

Blood of the Provinces is the first fully comprehensive study of the largest part of the Roman army, the auxilia. This non-citizen force constituted more than half of Rome's celebrated armies and was often the military presence in some of its territories. Diverse in origins, character, and culture, they played an essential role in building the empire, sustaining the unequal peace celebrated as the pax Romana, and enacting the emperor's writ.

Drawing upon the latest historical and archaeological research to examine recruitment, belief, daily routine, language, tactics, and dress, this volume offers an examination of the Empire and its soldiers in a radical new way. Blood of the Provinces demonstrates how the Roman state addressed a crucial and enduring
challenge both on and off the battlefield - retaining control of the miscellaneous auxiliaries upon whom its very existence depended. Crucially, this was not simply achieved by pay and punishment, but also by a very particular set of cultural attributes that characterized provincial society under the Roman Empire. Focusing on the soldiers themselves, and encompassing the disparate military communities of which they were a part, it offers a vital source of information on how individuals and communities were incorporated into provincial society under the Empire, and how the character of that society evolved as a result.

Blood of the Provinces

The Roman Auxila and the Making of Provincial Society from Augustus to the Severans

Ian Haynes

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements Abbreviations List of figures List of tables 1. Introduction Blood of the ProvincesSection 1: The Auxilia and the Structures of Imperial Power 2. The formative years: from the Late Republic to the Death of Tiberius3. Together under the name of Romans : The auxilia from Claudius to Trajan4. A New Provincialism: Hadrian and the Antonine Revolutions5. Shifting Fortunes: The auxilia under the SeveransSection 2: The Human Resource: The Recruitment of the auxilia and its Consequences 6. The Captive Body: Individual Recruitment7. Geopolitics: How Rome selectively exploited the manpower of the provinces8. Recruitment and the limits of localism9.
Ethnic exceptionalism? Examining special recruitment practicesSection 3: A Home from Rome: Daily Life in the auxilia10. Military Service and the Urban Experience11. Incorporation through routine: the power of everyday lifeSection 4: Through the Eyes of Believers: Religion, Ritual Activity and Cult Practice 12. Sacred space and sacred time in the iauxiliar13. Centralising cult14. Distinct cult communities within the auxiliaSection 5: Arms and the Men: Equipment, Tactics and Identity 15. Armoury of the Bricoleur? The disparate origins of auxiliary equipment16. Status, competition and military adornment17. Between Roman and Barbarian: Auxiliary soldiers on the Battlefield18. Disarming ethnicity?
Ethnic fighting traditions in the alae and cohortesSectiion 6: Pen and Sword: Communication and Cultural Transformation 19. The Spoken Word20. The Written WordSection 7: Auxiliary Veterans and the Making of Provincial Society 21. Veterani and other veterans22. Conclusion: Embodying RomeBibliography Index

Blood of the Provinces

The Roman Auxila and the Making of Provincial Society from Augustus to the Severans

Ian Haynes

Author Information

Ian Haynes is Professor of Archaeology at Newcastle University. He has worked on Roman sites in Britain, Italy, Germany, Romania, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic, and is currently project director of excavations at Maryport, Cumbria. Professor Haynes was formerly chair of the archaeology committee of the Roman Society and is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and a trustee of both the Clayton Trust and the Vindolanda Trust.